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Murder trial delayed for man accused in Las Vegas hammer attack

Murder trial delayed for man accused in Las Vegas hammer attack

The trial for a 23-year-old Brian Clay has been delayed until 2015. Clay has pleaded not guilty to charges that he sexually assaulted and killed a Las Vegas woman and her daughter and nearly killed the woman's husband with a hammer in April 2012. (Jeff Scheid/Las Vegas Review-Journal file)

By FRANCIS McCABELAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

The trial for a 23-year-old man charged with sexually assaulting and killing a Las Vegas woman and her daughter and nearly killing a man with a hammer was delayed for the second time, court records said.

Brian Clay will stand trial June 22, 2015, on murder charges that say he attacked Ignacia “Yadira” Martinez, 10-year-old Karla Martinez and Arturo Martinez in their home on April 15, 2012. Two other Martinez children were unharmed. Clay also is accused of trying to rape a woman hours before the home invasion.

Inside the home, investigators say, Clay used a claw hammer to pummel Arturo Martinez, then 39, and sexually assault and beat to death both his wife and daughter.

Arturo Martinez survived the attack.

The couple’s two sons, then 9 and 4 years old, were not attacked.

Prosecutors have a significant amount of DNA evidence to support their case, court documents show.

Clay, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, told investigators he was drunk and high on drugs and that he blacked out and has no memory of what happened that night.

Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty for Clay if he’s convicted.

Clay was supposed to stand trial next week. Trial delays are common in death penalty cases as lawyers and investigators have to prepare for the trial and a possible penalty hearing where a jury would decide a defendant’s punishment.

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